Letters
by TheLastMarauder-Moony
Summary: Letters from James Potter find Sirius, Remus and Harry on Harry's fifteenth birthday. No ship.
1. Harry

**Letters**

(A/n: I know that there are a lot of stories with the same basic idea but I felt like writing this anyway, so I did. I claim nothing.)

**Harry**

Harry James Potter was sitting at his desk in his room at Number 4 Privet Drive when it came. It was his fifteenth birthday, and he was doing homework – at night, of course, the only time he _could_. He looked up as he heard the sound of an owl pecking at his window, and let it in. It had a letter in handwriting he had never seen before, and it looked to be years old. He untied it and saw that the writing clearly spelled out his name, but did not have an address on it. He opened the letter and looked straight to the bottom of the page and it clearly said, 'all my love, your father, James Potter.' Harry's hands started to shake. It had to be a trick. His father was dead. He had heard his last words himself, every time a dementor got too close. The letter read:

_Hello Harry -_

If I'm alive when you get this, please don't trouble yourself reading it – it'd be entirely pointless. If I'm dead when you get it, I promise you that it's not from Voldemort or something else evil. I put this in a box at the post office, to be delivered to you on your fifteenth birthday. I have no spectacular words of wisdom for you. I don't know who you grew up with or where you are now, I can only hope you're with your mum, Sirius or another of the marauders. I pray that no one sends you to Lily's sister. She doesn't like us – magic, she thinks it's abnormal. I think I'll add that to the will that Lily and I are writing – you aren't under any circumstances to go to her or her husband.

Anyway – down to the point of this letter. Voldemort is after us, and we just went under the Fidelius charm with one of my dearest friends, a marauder, wormtail, as our secret keeper. I don't think he'll betray us, but I know that someone is, and I know it isn't Sirius. That leaves Remus and Peter – I don't want to believe it of either of them, but I know it is one of them. So you ask, why make one of the suspects our secret keeper? It's perfect ploy – no one will expect it to be him, they'll all think it'd be Sirius – so Sirius came up with this. I hope Pete doesn't betray us, because I want you to grow up – and I want to watch you do it.

I want you to know, that nothing you could do could make me ashamed of you. I will always be proud of you, and I will always love you. Right now your only just over a year old, so I can't imagine what you'll be like at fifteen. I don't know why I feel this – maybe it's Halloween coming up so soon, just two hours away, really – but I have this feeling I won't get to be there while you grow up. So I don't know what will happen, I only pray that somehow I can change it. I'm beginning to have my second thoughts about this plan – was it too_ perfect? I think so. Maybe we should change it – I think we will. Dumbledore can do it – that way I don't risk my family or my friends. Dumbledore can take care of himself better than anyone._

I guess I'm rambling about what I'm going to do, which is really silly, because chances are that if I make Dumbledore our secret keeper, we'll all live. (no you won't. you won't get the chance, dad.)_ I don't know how old I'll be when I die, but I'll write this as if today is my last day. _(you have no idea.)_ I want you to know that we left everything to you – every little thing. There's three houses, including the one we're hiding in, four Gringotts vaults – your trust fund, the Potter family fault, Lily's personal vault – I don't know what she keeps in there, and the marauders vault, which has a few books we wrote together, and a few personal things from each of us. If no one has told you about this, do me a favor and beat it out of Sirius, Remus, or Dumbledore. I don't know why I left Pete out of that. You can beat if out of him if you'd prefer it to them. _(Oh, how I'd love to.)_And other than the houses and vaults, I don't think there is much – I left my cloak with Dumbledore for you. If you don't know what that is…I'm rolling in my grave! At least, I assume I am._

I don't know much about being a parent to a teenager, but I know a few things about being_ a teenager. Trust your instincts, Harry, they tend to be right. Trust, always, but not blindly. I don't know what else to say, except for this – Keep your friends close – don't go all noble thinking that you can't put them in danger – especially after what I'm about to tell you. There was a prophecy, soon before you were born. _**(A/N: No, I'm not using the one in OotP) **_It talked about a boy who would defeat Voldemort. So if you haven't yet – which I'll assume is the case, as you're only fifteen – here's the exact wording._

"A boy will come into the world…as July goes out…a boy born with a destiny in mind…destined to defeat the dark lord…a difficult life he will live…but he will conquer if he holds true to his morals…and keeps his friends close…losing many dear to him…gaining peace and life again…he will conquer the dark lord…"

So I know you haven't had a good life – and you've probably already lost a lot of people to the dark asshole, but I want you to know that dead or not, I love you and I always will. And chances are, I'm proud of you, too. I have a few more pieces of advice for you: 1) Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself – you've probably heard Dumbledore say that, but it's true. Call him Voldemort – or Tom, that's his real name. 2) Trust in yourself and in those you love – they will be there for you if they truly love you and 3) don't go after Voldemort with revenge in mind – it will make you bitter and hateful. That, with the amount of power that you hold – ask Dumbledore, we told no one else – could make you another dark lord – as much as you want to deny it, hate does that to people. Be angry, but pity him – he will never have the things that you have – people who love you. Don't hate. If you have to hate something, the best thing to hate is just that – hate.

All my love,  
your father,  
James Potter.

Harry looked up from the letter with tears in his eyes, thinking over everything that he had read…he couldn't believe some of it – his father had doubted Peter? And not had the chance to do anything about it – by the time he could've asked Dumbledore to be their secret keeper, he was dead. He wondered if anyone else knew that. Sighing, he thought of the prophecy – that was somewhat alarming. He could believe it, but he didn't want to. He decided to ask Dumbledore about it. But what he had said made sense – and he would make sure it didn't happen. He'd do his part in saving the world, and then he would get out of the saving people/killing bad guys business and live his life. Maybe teach or something. Harry cried himself to sleep and for the first time in a little over a month he slept without any nightmares of Cedric dying and Voldemort coming back.


	2. Sirius

Sirius 

Sirius Black was sitting in Remus Lupin's house, in the guest bedroom, regretting the choice he had made that had led to the chain of events that had killed Lily and James and left Harry with the Dursley's when the letter came. It was addressed to him, with no address, in handwriting he hadn't seen in fourteen years. He let out a strangled gasp, which was quickly followed by a "Sirius, are you o – holy shit!" He assumed Remus had gotten one too – it was the only thing that made sense for him to react like that. He opened the letter hoping against hope that it was really from James – even though it'd have had to be from a timed post office box.

_Dear Sirius,_

Hello, …I won't ask how you're doing because if you're reading this, I'm dead. And if I'm dead, knowing you, you found a way to make it seem like it was your fault – I don't care what you did, it isn't. I'm writing this hours before Halloween in 1981. (Sirius let out another gasp. The day before he died. He didn't even know.)_ I'm writing it because I'm beginning to suspect Pete. Did you see the look in his eyes when we made him Secret Keeper? Looking back, over the last year or two, I notice more things like that – things that only we knew, and he had to have been the one to tell because I know you wouldn't have, and I'm almost as sure about Remus – but Pete – he's always followed people with more power than he has – who's to say he wouldn't go to Voldemort? My point being: tomorrow, I'm going to ask Dumbledore to be our secret keeper, but I'm writing this in case I don't get the chance. _(oh, you don't know how hard it is to read these things, James.)

_I just finished writing a letter to Harry – you should've got this on his fifteenth birthday. I told him what was in our will – just in case no one else told him. And I told him the prophecy. Do you remember that? We thought it had to be some sort of joke – but Dumbledore 'assures' us that it's not a joke. My son…is going to defeat the most powerful and evil wizard in history. That thought scares me – I hope my letter doesn't anger him – at the end I wrote about what hate and revenge could do to him and I think I phrased it a bit wrong, but I can't really change it as I already sent it. So to you, my friend, I've got a few last words. Thank you, so much, for being the brother I never got to have. The marauders, we were all brothers, but you must've been my twin, because we were closer._

I hope that my death doesn't bring you down too much. (I'm so, so, so sorry James…) _If it did – have no fear, but move on, please. I have the feeling that I won't get to be there for my son – but if you are, please make sure that he knows how much I love him. Tell him about the marauders, about your brothers. (And I don't mean Regulus by that, if you were thinking that.) I don't want to upset you – I don't know how long it's been since I died if you're reading this, and I hope my fears that it's been a long time are unfounded. But I need to tell you some things. If you can't be there for Harry for some reason, please make sure he doesn't go to Lily's sister. She would hate him, and I don't want that for my son, for anyone, really._

I guess I'll give you some of the same advice I gave Harry: trust in your instincts, they are very often right – and that doesn't mean go running into things without a thought. Keep your friends close – even if I'm dead, you've still got Remus and there are others, I'm sure. Padfoot, you are my brother in everything but blood, and I don't want you to ever forget me, but I do want you to move on – take care of Harry, be friends with Remus, go on with your life. I love you, padfoot, but I've got to go – it's getting late and I've got a few more letters to write.  


_Your brother and fellow marauder,  
James Potter a.k.a. Prongs._

Sirius layed down on the bed with tears in his eyes, crying for everything he had lost. But he knew James was right – he needed to move on. Not that it was possible, what with being the most wanted criminal in both muggle and magical worlds. He wondered how Harry had reacted to reading his letter – probably not too well. He had to get Dumbledore to let him come over soon, it was killing him not knowing his godson. Sighing for what felt like the millionth time that day, he rolled over and fell into a peaceful sleep – the first one he'd had in fourteen years.


	3. Remus

**Remus  
**  
Remus Lupin rolled over in his bed, thinking about the last fourteen years of his life, about losing Peter, Lily, James, Harry and Sirius, and then about getting Harry and Sirius back. He sighed as he heard Sirius gasp from the next room, wondering what could possibly be wrong now – well, it wasn't a matter of possibility, there were billions upon billions of possible things to go wrong, but that wasn't his point at all. As he started to ask Sirius what was wrong an owl came in with a letter. He said, "Sirius, are you o – " but then he looked at the handwriting on the letter, "Holy shit!" It was from James – and it looked old. So it was probably from a timed post office box…sent on his sons fifteenth birthday – go figure.

_Hey Moony!_

I'm writing this on October 30th 1981, and hoping that it never gets sent, but not counting on it. I'm losing trust in Pete, and I'm losing it fast. Looking back on when we made him secret keeper, he had this glint in his eyes that I just don't feel comfortable with. So sometime tomorrow I'm going to ask Dumbledore to be our secret keeper. I trust you again – and I'm sorry that I didn't before – and I trust Sirius, but Dumbledore seems to be the wisest choice. Pete always followed the three of us because we were more powerful and popular – he could think he'd get that from Voldemort, too, and who's to say he wouldn't? I just have a gut feeling about this – and I told Sirius and Harry to trust that sort of thing, so I'm trusting mine.

I could apologize five thousand times for not trusting you and believing you capable of thinking you to be the spy in our group, and it wouldn't be enough for me. I didn't want to believe that one my brothers could do that to me, but one of them was and – god forgive me for this – I automatically thought of you being a werewolf, and Voldemort looking for support from werewolves. It made sense to me, though it doesn't anymore. In the same way that Sirius has fought against his family's darkness, you've fought against the darkness of your disease – you have since before I ever met you, so why would that change now? So feeling like a total idiot, I beg you to forgive me. You don't have to – I don't deserve it for thinking that of you, but I wish you would.

I guess that I could give you advice like I did Harry and Sirius, but I wouldn't know what to say. Trust your instincts, Remus, they can help. Keep your friends close – help Sirius with Harry, spend time with Sirius – be the brothers you always were before. And if you did manage to forgive me and don't hate me, don't let my death rule your life – I am your brother and I always will be, whether I'm dead or not. If Pete is doing what I think he is – well, I'd love to say I don't hate him, as I've told Harry not to hate, but he's putting my family and friends in danger and that is not okay with me – not at all. So maybe I don't hate him – but I don't like him, I don't love him, and I don't pity what they'll do to him if he is a death eater. He deserves it.

Is that wrong? I know it's him and I know he's doing it, but I don't want to believe that of one of my brothers. What do I do about this? Hopefully he hasn't had the chance to go to the dark bastard yet, but if he has, and I don't get the chance to change secret keepers – don't kill him. Send him to Azkaban, where he belongs, but don't put blood on your hands to get revenge – as I told Harry, revenge makes hate, and hate makes people like Voldemort. I wouldn't want you to do that just to avenge me. It'd end up being rather pointless, don't you think?

I love you Moony, you are forever my brother and I am forever sorry. 

Your friend, brother, and fellow marauder,  
James Potter, a.k.a. Prongs

Remus smiled through the tears that seemed to be endless now. He had needed to hear some of those things – that James didn't think him the spy, that he still loved him, they were still brothers. And now that he had heard them, he felt so much better. Cleansed, almost. He wondered how Harry and Sirius were fairing after their letters. He could hear Sirius sobbing from the next room – he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign, though. Slowly, though, Sirius' sobs faded into silence and Remus started to fade to sleep, and his last understandable thought was, 'thank god for that letter – I think it may have just freed Sirius – in more than one way.


	4. Harry & Remus: Surprise

**Harry and Remus – Sirius' Surprise**

Harry Potter sat on the couch at Remus Lupin's house, wondering what Remus wanted to talk to him about. As he was about to get lost in thought, Remus entered the room. "Hello Harry. Did you get a letter on your birthday from an old friend?" Harry grinned, "Yes. It was the best birthday present I could have hoped for, too." Remus smiled back at him before saying, "I could get you something extremely good for both you and Padfoot if you'll help me with it – I can't do it alone." Harry looked at him questioningly. "With these letters, including Padfoot's, which we'd have to 'borrow' so that he didn't know, we could prove his innocence." The change from curious to ecstatic happened in less that the blink of an eye. Then he changed back to curious. "We could only prove that he didn't betray my parents – what about Peter and those muggles?" "We could prove enough for them to at least give him a fair trial." 

**- two hours later, ministry of magic, department of magical law enforcement - **

Harry and Remus walked in, both grinning like it was the best day of their lives – and it probably was pretty high up on both their lists.

_flashback -_

As they got their visitors badges and got their wands checked, they saw a little rat running across the hall. Harry grinned – they were getting Sirius freed, entirely now. He quickly stunned it and grabbed it, asking Remus to perform the spell to make Peter show his form. They marched him to the DMLE as quickly as they could, and told them who it was. They warned that he was a rat animagus, and were told to come back in an hour.

- end flashback  
  
They figured that Sirius had to be free now – with those letters and Peter as evidence, there was absolutely NO way that they couldn't free him. They walked straight to the head Aurors office and went in. The auror gave a fake smile and said in a stuck- up sounding voice, "with the evidence provided by the two of you, we give Sirius Black an official pardon and twelve million galleons for his years in Azkaban. Also, he has custody of his godson," he said pointing at Harry, "If you know where he is please give him this, it's the official papers for his innocence and the custody of Harry. There will be a press conference in an hour, at which time I and the minister will answer questions. I suggest you go tell him if you know where he is." They both grinned and raced out of the office, talking about how Sirius would react. They were home soon, and Sirius was sitting at the table looking angry.

"Would either of you happen to know what happened to my letter from James?!" Both of them smiled guiltily. "ARGH! Did you read it?!" Both were still grinning, and Sirius was getting irritated. Harry replied, "No, Sirius, we didn't, and you might get angry – but I assure you, you'll get over it – someone did." He looked between them. "Well, are you going to tell me _who_ you let read my letter?" They grinned even wider and nodded. "The head Auror at the ministry read it – a few other might have, too. Why don't you turn on the wireless?" He looked between them and then realization lit up in his eyes and he pointed his wand at the wireless. "In a special press conference today, it was told the Sirius Black was innocent of all charges, and Peter Pettigrew is still alive and now in ministry custody. Mr. Black received a full pardon, twelve million galleons, and custody of his godson, Harry Potter." At this point, Sirius was grinning bigger than Harry had ever seen him grin.

Sirius ran to Remus and Harry and hugged them both tightly. "how…did you do this? How did you catch Peter? And why'd you let him live again?" Harry frowned at the last part and said, "_well_, we went to the ministry to show them the letters and get you a fair trial. When we got there, I saw a little rat with a silver paw running across the hall. I stunned it and took it with us, where Remus did the anti-animagi charm. They told us to came back in an hour and when we did they had these papers for us to give to you." Sirius looked from Harry, to Remus, to the papers, and smiled. He looked up and said, "thank you James, you've freed me in more ways than you'll ever know."


End file.
